When first opened to traffic in 1821, the Santa Fe Trail linked the American markets along the Missouri River with the long-established Mexican...
Following the Santa Fe Trail
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Renegade Roads
Following Sibley’s Confederate Invasion
You’ve gotta love Texians and the Confederate government. They actually thought this was a good idea. In 1861, Brig. Gen. Henry Hopkins Sibley...
Following Arizona’s Road to Statehood
It’s hard to believe, but it was here, off Interstate 40 at milepost 325—in the middle of nowhere—that Arizona’s road to statehood really began. I...
Following New Mexico’s Road to Statehood
Ah, New Mexico. The Land of Enchantment. Or, as many say, the Land of Entrapment. Or, while waiting for the plumber to show up, the Land of Mañana....
Forts of the Northern Plains
I have a hankering to put some more miles on my car, so I fill my gas tank and head west to visit some of the forts established in the Intermountain...
150 Places to Celebrate Kansas’s 150th Birthday
There’s no place like Kansas. We’re talking about the Central/ Sunflower/Wheat/Jayhawk State. This state has more nicknames than Bob Boze Bell (but...
On the Cheyenne Heritage Trail
Hmmm. Several years back, the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department created the Cheyenne Heritage Trail, a 400-plus-mile route featuring 10...
Trailing Alfred Jacob Miller in the West
Alfred Jacob Miller was 27 years old when Scotsman Capt. William Drummond Stewart visited his Baltimore studio in 1837. Stewart thought his upcoming...
Following John Wesley Hardin Across Texas
Everybody is soooooo nice in Bonham, Texas, I find it hard to believe that this is the place that gave birth to a psycho, bigoted, cold-blooded...
Following John Wesley Hardin Across Texas
Everybody is soooooo nice in Bonham, Texas, I find it hard to believe that this is the place that gave birth to a psycho, bigoted, cold-blooded...
Dreams of Gold on the Starvation Trail
Gold seekers intent on finding the quickest ways to the Colorado gold fields forged the Smoky Hill Trail, but many of them paid a terrible price in...
The Old Snake Trade Route
Indian trade routes criss-crossed the country generations before any Euroamerican travelers arrived on foot, horseback or via covered wagons. The...